A Match Into Water
by iSniffMarkers
Summary: One-shot. Mammoth/Rocket fanfic. Inspired by 'A Match Into Water' by Pierce the Veil, and a tumblr role-play (Independencehigh-rp). 'Baran was horrified as he rushed down towards where the hero had landed. He pushed her out of his sisters way to protect her... but he ended up doing the complete opposite.'


**_A/N:_ ****I started shipping this when my friend had decided to join a rp on tumblr (Independencehigh-rp) as Baran. I was Raquel. Our faceclaims were Zoe Kravitz and Ash Stymest. We found a bunch of gif's of the two, and suddenly we were shipping Rocket/Mammoth. I regret absolutely nothinges, Baran is very OC, but 1. I have NO IDEA how to do ANYTHING as him, and 2. I wanted to break someone's heart. Whoo~  
**

**One last thing! This is also on AO3. My username is the same as on here- eventually, I'll be posting 77 Moments on there. I'm not sure yet whether I'll just leave FF, or if I'll post on both sites.**

**_Word Count:_ 1,293**

**_Song: _'A Match Into Water' by Pierce the Veil**

**_Characters:_ Rocket/Raquel Ervin, Mammoth/Baran Flinders**

* * *

Baran was horrified as he rushed down towards where the hero had landed. He pushed her out of his sisters way to protect her... but he ended up doing the complete opposite. The energy in her belt was dangerously low- he knew that. He knew that her force field wouldn't go up to protect her from Shimmer's attack. It didn't occur to him that she wouldn't be able to _fly_ either. He was used to her belt protecting her. He immediately assumed that it would keep her from getting seriously injured. The only issue had been that there was less energy stored in her belt than he thought.

He _heard_ her fall. He heard the sickening crack as her head smacked against the concrete below, though not before hearing someone else- probably one of her allies- scream her name. _ Rocket._ He would never be able to unhear it. The moment he looked down and saw her laying there motionless on the ground, he ran. Not away, but to her. It felt like ages had passed before he was finally at her side.

Baran looked down at the girl, willing her to open her eyes. Move. Breathe. Say something. Anything. He just wanted her to show him that she was alright, and that she was alive. He refused to believe that he had just killed her. His best friend, and the girl he had fallen in love with against his better judgement.

He could hear a fight somewhere nearby. Even if he wanted to join the fight, he knew he wouldn't be able to, since he had run out of the drug that turned him into the monstrosity called Mammoth. He looked up to see Nightwing and his sister. Though he couldn't see the hero's eyes, he was certain that they were full of fury. He would think that he intended to kill- no, _hurt_ Raquel. He _didn't_ kill her. The very thought of him doing this on purpose made him feel sick. He had no problem hurting or even killing anyone else, but it was different with her. She was... special.

The cloth on one of her sleeves had been partially torn off, exposing some of the scarred skin on her arm. His fingers traced over one of them, and he remembered when she told him what all of them were from. Fights before she became Rocket, fights _after_ she became Rocket, and a couple from one of her ex's. She always hid them when she went out, but once in awhile when she wore a sleeveless shirt, he could see them. Scars or no scars, he thought she was beautiful.

Finally, Baran tore his eyes away from Raquel to look around. Everyone around him was either unconscious or fighting as he sat there in the middle of it all, with the girl he loved in front of him, still and lifeless. Nothing going around was audible to his ears. He turned his attention back to Raquel, and took her hand in his own. He didn't cry- he just stared. He still refused to believe that she was dead. It just wasn't possible.

The shine of metal on her wrist caught his attention. Curious, he pulled the glove off the hand he was holding and saw the silver bracelet on her wrist. There was a cross on it, as well as a few other charms with the saints. Baran had never been much of a believer himself until recently.

As he stared at the cross, he felt his anger mount. He glared up at the ceiling, as if he could see through it to the heavens. "You _vulture_!" he screamed. "Give her _back_!" he tried to sound angry and demanding, but he could hear the desperation drip into his voice. It was more of a plea than a demand. "If you won't give her back, take me with her." he added as the anger in his voice began to dissipate. Once most of his anger had faded, he looked back down. his time, he stared at the floor.

Baran Flinders was in pain, but this kind of pain was foreign to him. He was used to physical pain. He thought he felt the worst that the world had to offer, but he was wrong. Oh was he wrong. He felt like someone had set his insides on fire, and was letting him burn from the inside out. There was no way to quench the flames. The painful fired burned away inside him with an insatiable hunger.

His eyes looked up to meet Raquel's face once more. Her dark brown irises were hidden behind closed lids. He wanted to see her eyes, but he feared that he wouldn't see the warm look her had grown used to. He was afraid that in its place, he would find absolutely nothing. He would rather see cold hatred than that.

His free hand made it's way to her shoulder and shook it lightly. "Please, wake up." he pleaded with her. "I know you can hear me. Wake up!" he sounded pathetic, but he didn't care. He knew that Raquel was gone, but he didn't want to accept it. No, he _couldn't_ accept it. It was just_ too impossible_. A drop of water materialized on her cheek, and he froze. It took him a moment to realize that it came from him. He was crying for the first time in years. He thought he had lost the ability to shed tears, but apparently he was wrong.

A shadow fell over him, but he didn't look up to see who was standing behind him. His eyes fell on the cross charm once more. In his mind, God had betrayed her. She believed in him, she had faith in him. While she fell, did she feel confident that he would save her? That she would survive, because he wouldn't let her die? Why didn't he save her? She was a good person, and she had her whole life ahead of her. If he was as powerful as he was led to believe, he could have saved her. Instead, he circled from above like a vulture, just waiting for someone to die so he could take them.

He glared at the charm with enraged eyes, before growling, "She's _mine_. You stay _away_ from her." Moments after he spoke, a hesitant hand rested on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a white glove. That ruled out the possibility of it being his sister. He looked up, and his eyes fell on the magician. Raquel's best friend, and the only one that knew what had once been between the two of them.

"Baran, she's gone." Zatanna said softly. Baran's head snapped up to glare at her, but his gaze softened the moment he saw her. Tears were in her eyes as well. It was then that he finally realized, he wasn't the only one hurting. They both lost someone that they cared about... but at least it wasn't her fault. It was all his own. _She_ didn't push her off the side like an idiot. His intentions were good, but what did it matter?

"No. It's not her time." Baran argued, being stubborn. He pulled her into his lap, and held onto her. He wanted to hold onto her forever "_It's not her time_." he repeated, just as it _finally_ hit him like a smack to the back of his head. It might've been an _actual_ smack to his head, if Selinda had joined then. The tears renewed, and started to roll down his face in a matter of seconds. The truth intensified the pain he already felt.

Raquel Ervin was dead, and it was _his_ fault.


End file.
